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The magazine never got the memo that provocative clothes are dead this spring.

Mark Seliger/GQ

April 02, 2013

by

Erin Weinger

It's not a good season for barely-there clothing. In the New York Times Style Magazine, Suzy Menkeshas declared a "decade of slut style" dead, pointing to Valentino's modernly modest spring frocks, while outrage continues to swirl over the "too-sexy" Victoria's Secret teen lingerie line that, apparently, never was. And of course, the barely-there costumes of Spring Breakers (and the circumstances surrounding the characters wearing them) kicked up controversy of their own. But British GQ never got the memo that, for now at least, less isn't more, putting Emma Watson on its May cover in a skimpy, stretchy one-piece situation that mimics one of Julia Roberts' Pretty Woman hooker outfits and would make Hermione Granger plotz.

Yes, the 22 year-old actress looks rather absurd.

In the magazine's defense of the shoot, Watson is prepping for her turn as an out of control teen in Sofia Coppola's upcoming film, The Bling Ring, which tells the tale of the young thieves who wreaked havoc on Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Orlando Bloom from late 2008 to 2009. But her character is reportedly based off of Alexis Neiers, the Bling Ring member and former E! reality star who grew up in tony Calabasas, Calif., and was best friends with burglary ringleader Rachel Lee, who was voted best dressed at her high school and drove an Audi.

Sure, the real Neiers got thrown out of her house (reportedly for smoking OxyContin) and was once arrested for possession of black tar heroin. But ex-con or not, old images show that the girl usually managed to look on-trend and fairly put together in blazers, skinny jeans and simple, non-offensive peep toe heels — when she wasn't in rehab or jail.

If the Brits wanted to properly capture the essence of Watson's "out of control" character for their cover, they would have put her in the equally-as-distasteful but more unassuming velour Juicy track suits that were still fairly in fashion at the height of Neiers' crime spree. As it turns out, Bling Ring costume designer Stacey Bettat put Watson in a short-sleeve baby pink track suit in the film, along with a club-appropriate fur vest and the cut offs and bra tops that will surely show up at Coachella on April 12.

On the Mark Seliger-shot cover of British GQ, Watson just looks like she's in an American Apparel ad.